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Hackensack, NJ - Trailing by two at the half, Wagner surged out of intermission with six-straight points and 12 of the first 14 en route to blowing past Fairleigh Dickinson by an 84-66 count in Northeast Conference (NEC) action at Stratis Arena. Senior Jonathon Williams (Kennedy, CA / Richmond / City College of San Francisco) scored a team-high 20 points, on 8-of-11 shooting, to lead an offense that shot a blistering 50.8 percent (31-of-61) from the field.

With the win, the Seahawks improve to 17-11 on the season and are now in a four-way tie with Bryant, LIU Brooklyn and Quinnipiac for second place in the ultra-competitive NEC at 11-6. A victory in its season finale on Saturday, would guarantee the Green & White a first round home game and the opportunity to finish between second and fourth in the league. Robert Morris, meanwhile, locked up the NEC Regular Season Championship and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs earlier tonight with a win over Bryant.

Williams and junior Kenneth Ortiz (Newark, NJ / Science Park / Southern Mississippi) fueled the game-changing second-half run with 10 of the 12 Wagner points, before sophomore Mario Moody (East Orange, NJ / East Orange Campus) capped the spurt with a jumper to make it 51-43 with 14:51 remaining in the game.

With the Seahawks leading by 10 in the second half following a Kinu Rochford layup, junior Orlando Parker (Orlando, FL / Orlando Christian Prep) hit a pair of layups to spark a 7-1 run that made it a 72-56 game with just 7:41 to play. The Green & White would see its lead grow to 22 points on two occasions, before departing FDU with an 84-66 victory.

Wagner, which won for the 22nd-straight time when recording at least 80 points, also shot above 50.0 percent for the fifth time in six games while forcing 19 turnovers that led to a 28-8 advantage in points off turnovers. Sparking the defense was sophomore Marcus Burton (Charlotte, NC / David W. Butler), who notched a career-high six steals with 11 points and four assists, against no turnovers, in 36 minutes.

Joining Williams, who notched his team-leading fifth 20-point game of the year, in double-figures was Parker, who notched a season-best matching 14 points with a team-high six rebounds. Rounding out the double-digit scorers was Ortiz, who had 13 points with seven assists, against just turnovers, in 31 minutes.

Rochford led all players with 22 points and nine rebounds while Xavier Harris added 13 points and nine caroms to round out the top performers for the Knights.

FDU shot just 26.9 percent (7-of-26) after halftime, including misfiring on all seven three-point attempts in finishing up 46.0 percent (23-of-50) for the game.

Fairleigh Dickinson took a 41-39 lead at the half thanks to shooting a blistering 66.7 percent (16-of-24) from the field. However, the Seahawks were able to stay in the game thanks to converting on a solid 48.4 percent (15-of-31) from the field while forcing nine miscues that led to a 13-8 advantage in points off turnovers.

The Knights were led by the frontcourt duo of Xavier Harris and Rochford, as the tandem registered 20 points on a perfect 9-of-9 form the field.

Wagner concludes the regular season portion of its schedule with a game at Monmouth on Saturday, March 2 at 7:00 pm.

NOTES:
* The Seahawks have now won 11-straight against Garden State schools.

* Wagner has also claimed five-straight in the all-time series.

* Williams has now paced the team in scoring a team-best 14 times this season and has hit for at least 20 points in all three of his games against FDU. During that time, Williams is averaging 21.0 points per game while shooting 61.8 percent (21-of-34) from the floor.

* During NEC-play, Wagner is averaging 74.9 points per game while shooting 47.5 percent from the field and 36.2 percent from deep. In non-conference action, the Seahawks notched just 58.4 points per game, on 38.2 percent shooting, including 27.6 percent long range.

* Junior Naofall Folahan (Cotonou, Republic of Benin / Wilbraham & Monson Academy (MA)) blocked two shots while moving past Miladin Mutavdzic for second place in the all-time Seahawk rankings with 137. He is now just 39 behind Frantz Pierre-Louis for the top spot.

* Wagner has now won a school-record 42 games over the last two seasons while first-year coach Bashir Mason improved his school record for victories by a first-year coach to 17.

* Senior Josh Thompson (Bridgeton, NJ / St. Augustine Prep) added nine points with five rebounds and three assists.

* Ortiz has now notched at least seven assists in a game on nine occasions with the Seahawks going 8-1 during that time.

* The Green & White is now 6-2 when playing on Thursdays this year and are 15-3 over the last two years.

* Wagner also capped February with a 5-3 record and is 12-4 in the month over the last two seasons.

* The Seahawks used their 11th different starting line-up of the season.

* Burton's six steals were the most by a Green & White player since Chris Martin recorded six against NJIT on December 28, 2009.

Follow Wagner Athletics on Twitter (@wagnerathletics) for all the latest news and updates on the athletic department, @WagnerHoops for news and updates on the men's basketball program and @bashirmason to follow the Seahawks' first-year head coach.

Photography by Dave Saffran